Off the needles

I really hate the light getting shorter and shorter these days.

But today I took advantage of a day off to grab a little sunlight and take some knit pictures.

I've finished two projects lately, both gift knits. The first one was a really fast winter hat I made for Brett out of the pearly grey Seacolors I picked up at Rhinebeck from Nanney Kennedy. There's a little bit left, enough for some wrist warmers, or mitten cuffs. I wound up just winging the pattern. It's a pretty basic boy-style stockinette hat, so it wasn't a huge design challenge. Still, I think it suits Brett and I like it a lot.






I do think my design tastes are trending more to the simple. I think it's because I'm appreciating my materials more and more and when I have great wool, dyed with such beautiful colors, I like to let it speak for itself.

My other F.O. is the shawl I started for Brett's Mom way back in the spring. The expectation was that I would polish it off in a matter of weeks, but then I got hung up on the yarn not being quite what I wanted for the pattern. It's a heavier weight which turned what should have been a super lofty confection into a little more serious winter scarf sort of shawl. Brett kept bugging me about not working on it, but I was convinced it wasn't what she wanted so I was delaying to see if I could get some actual laceweight from Lynn. No luck. So I just finished it off as best I could. I hope Brett's mom likes it regardless.

Unblocked lace always looks a little ragged,


but the afternoon sunlight helps it a bit, don't you think?